Composition roofing.



O. R. ElVllGH.

COMPOSITION ROOFING.

APPLICATION FILED Nov, Io, 1916.

Patented Mar. 27, 1917.

f ably thicker sheet t lllfll .OLIVER R. EMIGH, or wnsTMIivs'rEn, MARYLAND, AssIGNon 'ro BALTIMORE ROOFING AND ASBESTOS MANUFACTURING CO., OF WILMINGTON, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OIE". DELAWARE.

COMPOSITION ROOFIN G.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 2t', IMI?,

Application led November 10, 1916. Serial No. 130,608.

State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Composition Roofing; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact de:

scription of the invention, such as will en-` able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture and method of application ot composition roofing material, and it consists in providing a roof covering which is essentially tire and water proof and is very durable in use.

According to my invention I use an under layer of a comparatively thick sheet of asbestos felt above which I place a considermineral oils, such as asphaltums, and these sheets are applied to the roof deck of the building with the asbestos sheet down.

By means of my invention, both in the design of manufacture and method of application, I have combined the essentially important fea-tures both of asbestos rooting and rag felt rooting, and eliminated certain objections characteristic to both.

- 'Ihe improvement in rag felt composition rootings accomplishedvby my invention consists of successfully adding a fire-retarding unit, essentially equal to that secured in an all-asbestos composition roofing, by the addition to the under-side ,of the rag felt roofing of a heavy sheet of unsaturated asbestos felt to act as a tire screen over the roof deck. By applying this material on the roof deck with the rag felt side to the weather, the asbestos fire screen is held against the deck not only by the nails driven through the roofing, but also by the weight of the rag felt rooiing itself, and is preserved from the action of rain, wind and weather by the heavy sheet of ragfelt roofin My invention both as to manufacture o material and method of application obviates unfavorable consequences resulting from any tendency of the saturated rag felt and unsaturated asbestos sheet to separate, due to unequal ratio of expansion and contraction. `Should such of rag felt saturated 'and' coated with weather-proofing compounds 'of' themselves. absorb a far separation occur, due to dierencein expansion and contraction, no deleterious consequences could result as the asbestos sheet, although separated from the rag felt material, would be held firmly against the roof deck by the nails and weight of the material above it. Such action with the asbestos sheet applied to the weather would result in the asbestos washing i or blowing away, thereby eliminating the fire-retarding feature of the material. My invention in this respect relates to a coated rag felt roof permanently insulated on the under-side with lire-resisting asbestos.

My invention is an improvement on allasbestos rooings because it affords equal fire protection and obviates certain objections inherent in asbestos .composition roofings. Because of the nature of asbestos, being a mineral with little tensile strength, composition rooings made exclusively of this material lack the tensile strength of a rag felt rooing, and do not contain the same amount of weather-proofing saturation as an equal weight or thickness of rag felt. It is well known that asbestos will not saturate to the same extent as rag felt, owing to the fact that it is a mineral, and does not possess the capillary attraction of a vegetable or animal ber, and weather-proofing compound can only be forced around and between the fibers, whereas in rag felt it is absorbed by `the capillary action of the fibers For this reason rag felt will larger quantity of water-proofing compound than an equal thickness of asbestos, properties to resist'.l the -action of the elements. Consequently, asbestos composition roofs cannot be successfully made of a single thickness of felt as is the case with rag felt roofings and it becomes necessary to saturate thin sheets of asbestos and cement two, three or more layers together to secure a material of suihcient thickness. To the top of this 1s applied athin sheet of -unsaturated asbestos felt, which is commonly exposed to the weather.

All-asbestos composition rooiings, even when made in this manner, do not have the tensile strength of a rag felt thickness and frequently tear and blow DELAWARE, AND ASBESTOS,

affording more weather-proof rooting of equal away when subjectedto abnormal wind chief re-retarding element of the roofing since the saturated asbestos material beneath will burn, owing to its inammable contents.

My invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a barn roof made `of my improved roofing;

Fig. 2 shows one of the sheets of roong detached, parts being broken away; and

Fig. 3 shows a section on a larger scale of a portion of one of the sheets.

A represents the rag felt roofing material and B represents the asbestos sheet beneath the same.

On the upper surface of the rag felt roofing I apply a weather-proof coating of somewhat higher melting point and less fluid than the saturant beneath, thus constituting what is known in the trade1 as rubber surface orcoating, being thus called because it looks like rubber, although there is no rubber contained in the same.

It will be seen that the herein described manufacture and method of application provides the following advantages:

First, a rubber coated rag felt roofing,

insulated underneath with a heavy sheet of I asbestos, constituting a virtually re-proof rag felt material;

Second, uniting to a rag felt roofing a fire-resistive feature equal to that of a laminated composition asbestos'roofing; t Third,` retaining the weather-resistive powers of the best grade of rag felt rooting by virtue of its waterproofing compound;

Fourth, offering a ire-retarding roof of extra efliciency and of far greater tensile strength than a laminated asbestos composition roof;

Fifth, protecting and preserving, through the method of application, the fire resistive properties of the asbestos from the action of sun, rain and wind throughout the entire life of the roof.

Having thus described my invention what Iclaim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A composition rooin strip comprising a lower sheet of plain as estos roofing material, and an upper and thicker layer of rag felt impregnated with asphaltums with a top finish to the strip and imparting a rublber-like appearance thereto, substantially as OLIVER R. EMIGH.

ture.

coating of less fluid asphaltum forming the 

